Imagine Mary, going about her ordinary life, doing typical 1st-century Jewish teenage girl things, preparing for a predictable life of marriage, child-bearing, and home life. And then out of nowhere, this incredible disruption, this visit from Gabriel. Before he even tells Mary what is about to happen, he says, “The Lord is with you.” In other words, “Buckle your seatbelt. Things are about to get crazy, but it’s going to be okay because God is with you.”
If we have learned nothing else from the past few years, it is about disruption. Think about life before the disruption of a pandemic, of political mayhem, or of calls for justice. How have things changed? Have these years been entirely difficult or have there been some gifts or new learnings you will carry forward? Has there been or do you suppose there will be lasting change? How differently might we approach disruptions in life if we were to first hear, “The Lord is with you”?
In prayer, thank God for the promise that no matter how crazy life gets, the Lord is with us.